Posts Tagged Deficit

Notwithstanding the neo-Hooverite talk from stimulus-program opponents, the current deficit isn’t too large. If anything, it may need to be even larger to revive the economy.

The government, in its efforts to stimulate the economy and fight a deepening recession, is doing what to many people seems counterintuitive – increasing spending and putting our country further in debt.

I’m admittedly no economic expert, and I have to resort to reading and listening to those who are. There are plenty of non-experts giving their opinions here at OneUtah and elsewhere. And opinions are like . . . well I won’t go there. But there is a great deal of hysteria without serious economic understanding when it comes to the deficit. So when I read the article, I felt it important to share here.

The good news is that there is little disagreement among economists who have studied the issue. The consensus is that short-run deficits help end recessions, and that whether long-run deficits matter depends entirely on how government spends the borrowed money. If failure to borrow meant forgoing productive investments, bigger long-run deficits would actually be better than smaller ones. Read the rest of this entry »